Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $1.20 Million Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,376 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 19,212 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,396,000 after buying an additional 414,826 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 966,212 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,749,000 after buying an additional 110,806 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.2% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,873 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 12.1% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 981,103 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $24,116,000 after buying an additional 106,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 383.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 502,840 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $12,360,000 after buying an additional 398,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $25.15 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.30. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.88 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.